Can You Vape When Pregnant?

Can you vape when pregnant?

The honest answer has two parts. The safest choice in pregnancy is to use no nicotine at all, so quitting smoking and vaping completely is ideal. If you smoke and are struggling to stop, though, the NHS advises that vaping is much safer for you and your baby than carrying on smoking.

This is a sensitive subject, so the most important thing is that you feel supported rather than judged. The aim of this page is simply to lay out the UK guidance clearly, so you can have a well informed conversation with your midwife, who is the best placed person to help you.

Let us look at what the NHS advises, how vaping compares to smoking, the points to weigh and where to get proper support.

If you are pregnant and using nicotine, please know this is not about blame. Lots of people find quitting hard, with pregnancy often making it feel more pressured. The point of understanding the guidance is to help you take the next step with good information and the right support behind you.

What the NHS advises

UK health guidance is careful and supportive on this, centring above all on stopping smoking.

• None is safest: the ideal in pregnancy is to use no cigarettes and no nicotine at all.
• Smoking is the big risk: smoking in pregnancy raises the risk of low birthweight, premature birth and miscarriage.
• Vaping beats smoking: if you cannot stop, the NHS says vaping is much safer than continuing to smoke.
• Support first: licensed nicotine replacement and behavioural support are recommended starting points.

The thread through all of it is clear. Stopping smoking is one of the best things you can do for your baby, so if a vape helps you quit and stay smokefree, UK guidance supports you in using it.

It is worth knowing that licensed nicotine replacement, such as patches and gum, is the recommended first option alongside support from a stop smoking service. Vapes are not currently available on the NHS, yet where they help someone move off cigarettes, the evidence and guidance back that choice.

How vaping compares to smoking

The reason vaping is seen as far safer than smoking comes down to what causes the harm. Most of smoking's damage comes from the tar and toxins in tobacco smoke rather than the nicotine, with vaping having none of that combustion. A major UK trial found vaping to be as safe as nicotine patches in pregnancy, with fewer low birthweight babies in the vaping group, mainly because it helped more women stop smoking.

That said, vaping is not risk free. Nicotine is not proven safe for a developing baby and can cross the placenta, while the aerosol still contains some substances. This is why the guidance is so clear that no nicotine is best, while still recognising vaping as a much better option than smoking for those who would otherwise carry on.

Holding both of these ideas at once is the key. Vaping being far safer than smoking does not make it safe, yet the two messages are not in conflict. The aim is always to move toward the safest end of the scale, which is being free of both cigarettes and nicotine.

What about secondhand vapour?

Once your baby is here, the question shifts a little to the air around them. It is sensible to avoid vaping around a baby or young child, since their airways are still developing and it is best to keep the air around them free of any aerosol. Vaping outdoors or well away from the baby is a simple way to reduce their exposure to it.

The same applies during pregnancy if others around you vape or smoke. Reducing your exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke in particular is well worthwhile, since it carries its own real risks in pregnancy. Your midwife can offer practical advice on keeping your home and surroundings as smokefree as possible.

If you have already quit

If you stopped smoking before or during your pregnancy, that is a real achievement worth protecting. The goal from here is to stay smokefree, ideally stepping away from nicotine altogether as you feel able. There is no real need to rush in a way that risks a return to cigarettes.

For someone who used a vape to quit smoking, a sensible path is often to reduce the nicotine strength gradually over time toward 0mg and then stop, with support from your stop smoking service. Doing this at a pace that keeps you off cigarettes is what matters most, so your midwife can help you plan it.

Points to weigh

A few honest points help you and your midwife make the right choice for you. The clearest message is that quitting entirely is the goal, with vaping as a tool to get there if NRT is not enough.

• If you do not smoke, do not start: this applies even more strongly in pregnancy.
• Nicotine free is not risk free: the aerosol and flavourings still carry some risk.
• Aim to stop, not just switch: the goal is to be free of cigarettes and, ideally, nicotine.
• Get support early: free help makes quitting far more likely to succeed.

If you want to dig deeper, see our explainer on whether vaping is better than smoking. It pairs well with our guide on how to stop vaping and our look at what nicotine does to your body.

For the full set of guides, the vaping and health hub brings everything together in one place.

Where to get support

The single most useful step is to speak to your midwife. Your midwife and the NHS stop smoking service offer free, tailored support for pregnancy, without judgement. They can help you quit, talk through all of your options and arrange ongoing help, which makes a real and lasting difference to your chances of staying smokefree.

Frequently asked questions